Love It, (or) Leaf It

That's the name of this pattern (without the or) from the summer issue of Knit.1. and I think I will leaf it or rather leave it. I should have known better after reading of other knitters having problems with the hat being too large. But I picked out some bamboo yarn from my stash and knitted away, even using smaller needles to adjust for the size. It looks good and feels very soft, but unless I find someone with a very large head (about 24"), I going to rip this out and knit something else!

If It Looks Like a Duck

And the knitting pattern said it was a duck, then it must be a duck. I checked the book Knitted Toys by Fiona McTague out from the library. I thought the duck was cute, and I had yarn in my stash that would work. Of course I didn't follow the instructions exactly because I wanted to avoid sewing seams. That made it much more difficult than the skill level 1 assigned to the pattern. The only sewing involved was in attaching the arms. A knitting challenge!

A Little Shawl

The pattern is called Little Arrowhead Shawl. This was a fast knit. The yarn started out as the Branching Out scarf, which I ripped out to make this shawlette. It wasn't hard, but I did have to watch out that I didn't forget my yarn overs.

The model is my armless mannequin. I had to drag it out in the backyard to get better light.
And I did have to avoid the gopher holes.

Which One is Cuter?

Gopher

or

Hedgehog

What do you think? A lawn wrecking gopher, or a soft hedgehog knit and felted out of wool? OK, I think my hedgehog is cuter. He didn't take long to knit, though I started him last year. He was left unfinished in a bag until I found the right kind of yarn to complete the project. The eyes and nose are needle felted. Unstuffed, he makes a fun puppet.
The gopher took up residence in my back yard last week, digging his way across the lawn. He kindly posed for this picture in the middle of digging a hole. I'm hoping he will find my neighbor's lawn tastier.

Random Photos

Favorite Sign

Butterfly on Avocado Leaf

Epiphyllum

Angora Bunny

Bag and a Half

One pattern, two bags. The smaller one is half the size and knit with half the stitches. It measures about eight inches square. I finally used up my never ending brown yarn. Recognize it from the Pinwheel pillow? I don't know what ever possessed me to buy this yarn in the first place. I think that I had some crazy idea it would look good as a sweater. It works fine for a bag, though.

Photo Shoot

Yellow Spiral Hat

Lavender Sweater

Pink Sweater

Warm and Cozy

Magic Mitts.

Weavers Wool Mini Shawl

Pinwheel Pillow

My three latest projects. My hands were getting cold while working on the computer so I knit these fingerless mittens in one evening. Knit of Patons SWS, a wool and soy blend. I never could figure out how they could spin soy into yarn. Easy pattern called Magic Mitts.

The shawl is to keep my shoulders warm. This took a little longer to knit, but was not hard. I used four skeins of Bernat Cashmere, which by the way only has a teeny bit of cashmere and is mostly acrylic.

The Pinwheel pillow is a pattern from Knitscene magazine. I used a chunky brown acrylic from my stash. I did think about stuffing it with yarn, but I used polyester stuffing instead.
Three projects to make me more comfortable.

Red and Pink

Two cute baby sweaters, just the right colors for Valentine's Day. Both have a hood. The pink one I knit for a friend's new granddaughter in Virginia. Knit seamless from the top down in an acrylic wool blend. I hope to get it sent to her before she grows out of it.
The red one is knit seamless from the bottom up, from Amore yarn, soft and washable. The pattern from Lion Brand. Notice the wolf? It kind of reminded me of little red riding hood.